George Johnston acting in Keep the Aspidistra Rising by George Orwell

The Cambridge Student 4/5 'Oh, it's a tragedy. I should've brought my tissues': thus moaned my plus-one as we headed towards Robinson on Wednesday night. It turned out things were more complicated than that - Frozen is perhaps the only tragedy to end with one character telling another a joke (and a fairly funny one too). Odd it may have been, but this production was also one of the most startling and effective I've seen this term. The play revolves - if that's strong enough a word - around convicted paedophile and serial killer Ralph Wantage (GEORGE JOHNSTON), the mother of his final victim (Ayoola Alabi), and the psychiatrist (Brid Arnstein) who has to face her own troubles as she studies him. All three parts are of roughly equal size and rely heavily on monologue, and all three performers rise to the challenge with aplomb. While Arnstein still needs to settle into the lecture which gives the play its central structure, she consistently combines coolness with a sense of being out of her depth, and gets the play off to an unnerving start. Alabi is wonderfully understated: her first reference to her daughter's disappearance, 'she's not in Wales, we've leafleted... (read more)

The Cambridge Tab EMILIE FERRIS proposes that ‘All in all, “Frozen” is a satisfying and rewarding piece of work’: ‘Can we maintain that certain crimes are unforgivable even when they are beyond our control?’ Lavery seems to be asking. But, with the sudden inexplicable abundance of serial killer themed plays such as Max Barton’s No Magic in Cambridge, the subject matter of murder and its consequences appear surprisingly quotidian and repetitive. In spite of this, Frozen relies not upon its inherent plot, but the expertise of its actors who arguably bring a somewhat defunct intrigue to life. JOHNSTON raises hairs as Ralph Wantage, delivering a fantastic performance as victim turned abuser, singular in its riveting presence as he commands the stage entirely. He works well with Arnstein’s Dr Gottmundsdottir who seemingly effortlessly sinks into her role of psychoanalyst. Ayoola Alabi’s delivery as Nancy Shirley, the bewildered mother, was at times spot on, conveying the exact mannerisms of a mother oscillating between despair as a slummy mummy to the proprietarily attired Capable Woman. Nonetheless, perhaps due to latent influences within the script, Alabi’s Nancy occasionally appeared to fluctuate perplexingly between irreverence and inherent dislike of her children to hoarse grief, thus... (read more)

3 STARS ANGELA LIU gives all credit to the cast: Firstly, a shout-out to Tom Adams who, as the Guard, stood on stage for almost two hours – in silence. His moment in the spotlight was when he got to step forward and inhale. What was clearly a gripping test of acting skill was managed very well. In fact, he was the cherry on top of a solid cast. Brid Arnstein slipped between condescending medical professional and tortured loner with eerie ease. Some of the most absorbing scenes were between Arnstein and GEORGE JOHNSTON, playing her medical subject, as it became clear that the madness was not solely concentrated on one side of the dialogue. JOHNSTON gave a consistently excellent performance, balancing menace with an unnervingly compelling soul. Ayoola Alabi, as the mother of Ralph’s last victim, shone in moments of creepy intensity and frustrated anger, although at times her emotional reflections felt stilted. However, my hesitation about this play lies in its lack of originality. The plot panned out like a dot-to-dot: murder – forgiveness – remorse – zzzzzz. At one point during my note-taking I scrawled ‘TRITE’ across my page, which apparently is my knee-jerk reaction to dialogue... (read more)

LUCY ELVEN - Cambridge Theatre Review FIVE STARS ‘What’s one thing to do with another?’ Ben runs headlong into Gus’ worst fear. Though Gus thinks he believes his turn of phrase is correct, that no one is upstairs, and his version of events regarding 'the Villa’s' disputed penalty, he can’t be sure of these or that he is, as he claims, 'an ardent football fan'. The Corpus Playroom might have been purpose built for ‘The Dumb Waiter’. Two beds can be placed at a right angle as Pinter stipulated they should be, and at the centre, in the nook of the ‘L’, is the dumb waiter itself (built by ‘Master Carpenter’ Leo Parker-Rees). Not being able to see half of the people in the room suits the play, which is lucky and deservedly so. Because I don’t know if Christmas has made me a baying yeasayer, but I am convinced that all of the decisions Harry Michell did make were excellent. Michell let the text get the laughs, rather than asking JOHNSTON and Krsljanin to deliver some sort of Noel Coward(-ly) repartee, and he didn’t dress either character up as Harold Pinter, as seemed to happen in ‘The Lover’ last... (read more)